BUYING A HOUSE WILL SLOW DOWN YOUR PATH TO FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE (BUT YOU SHOULD DO IT ANYWAY)

“Historically, the stock market has returned an average of 7% annually. Real estate appreciates on average 4% annually. Stocks win. If you want your money to grow as fast as possible, you would put your money in the stock market (or a business) vs a house. End of story.

If you are pursuing FI/RE, and want to get there as fast as possible, you would be better off skipping home ownership and investing the money you would have used for a down payment and mortgage payments. But getting to FI ASAP isn’t everyone’s goal.”

From Retire by 40 … The FIRE movement has come a long way since I started blogging in 2010. Now, lots of people are aware of FIRE and many are trying it out. Is The FIRE Movement a Fad? – Retire by 40 Related

From From One Geek to Another … While FIRE seems to be in the headlines, there is a lot of confusion and opinions on what it means and entails. Everyone has a different view on methods you take to get there and whether or not it’s even possible. There are also lots of ideas about […]

From XRayVsn … In the quest for financial independence and potential early retirement, a fundamental transition needs to occur, transforming from a laborer to a capitalist. What do I mean by this? For the vast majority of people the way they “earn a living” is by getting a job and trading time/labor for money. It […]

From Financial Peacock … Your definition of financial independence may be different from mine, and that’s okay. I had a spirited debate with someone at a personal finance conference recently about how much money it takes to retire and we had drastically different views. The person I talked to at the personal finance conference thought […]

From Peerless Money Mentor … When you are growing up in the ghetto, FI seems like a pipe dream. For most people living there, the primary goal is to escape this environment and never look back. During this time period, I was living in the projects (ghetto) in south Baton Rouge, LA. While I do not […]

From Apathy Ends … “For every $100 we saved, it only cost us $79 in our take-home pay. It’s like a 21% off sale but for contributing cash to yourself! Over the course of the year, we will contribute $10,080 to her 401k and it will only “Cost” us $7,920 due to the tax savings this […]

From Chief Mom Officer … Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, and creator of the index fund, recently passed away. Although we never met, no other person had shaped my financial life quite like him. In honor of his life, I wanted to reflect on how I came to, left, and returned to Vanguard in the […]

A participation trophy for kids can lead to financial failure as adults. Find out how to encourage your children to learn from failure to create success! The Link Between Participation Trophies And Financial Failure – Arrest Your Debt Related

From Dividend Geek … “Tax-loss harvesting is a process selling equities (stocks, ETFs and mutual funds) at a loss to get tax benefits. This might sound counterintuitive. Why would you sell at a loss? The idea is to sell the equity to realize a loss and then buy back the equity at reduced a price. […]

Today we’ll learn how Medicare works and what you need to know before retiring early. We’ll cover Plan A, Plan B, as well as supplemental coverage options. How Medicare Works: What You Need to Understand Before You Retire Early – Financially Alert Related